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Where are WSU grads now? see page 4 AT A GLANCE EDITORIAL FEATURES CLASSIFIEDS.. 2 3 4 5 O TH E 1934 ci'Oy ?7i'e(7erJ 2009 10 n frn if MONDAY, MARCH 8, 2010 VOL 80 ISSUE 70 WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY WWW.WSUSI6NP0ST.COM mm mj dtj U ml International news in brief V Of g j uj Thompson becomes first female: Student Body Officer since 1993 By Spencer Garn assL news editor I The Signpost In one of the closest elections in WSU history, Victoria Thompson edged Lee Naylor by 19 votes Friday night to become the first female Weber State University Student Body President since 1993. "I think that means that anybody can do anything; it doesn't matter who you are," Thompson said. "This year we have a (president) that's in a wheelchair and I think that's awesome, and just as awesome is this year we have a female president." Thompson received 39.7 percent of 1,434 votes while Naylor received 38.3 percent. Thompson attributed her narrow win to her credentials and aggressive campaign, which won her the vote of at least one student. "She was handing out juice boxes at the shuttle stop and it was one of the days when it was a blizzard," said Rachel Park, a student who voted for Thompson. "That's dedication." Naylor also applauded Thompson's campaign, calling it one of the greatest ever seen at WSU. Naylor expressed appreciation for both of his opponents, saying that Cole Spicker, who finished last in the voting, showed a great deal of respect and integrity throughout his campaign. The programming vice president election was also closely contested, with Matthew Budge defeating Jennifer Peterson by only 35 votes. The other elected candidates include Tawny Choi as Diversity Vice President, Michelle Hall as Service Vice President, Shay Taylor as Clubs and Organizations Vice President, Kyle Braithwaite as See Winning page 6 ; V " . ' r . - r - ...... PHOIO BY BRYAN BUTTERFIELD THL MO,U Victoria Thompson hugs current Student Body President Tyler Lathem on Friday, March 5 after narrowly beating out Lee Naylor for the 2010-11 SBO position. Students hold fundraising humanitarian event for women t r By Frances Kelsey editor in chief l The Signpost Last May, Weber State University students traveled to Guatemala to help local women start their own businesses. "Last year in 2009, Weber State had ' a humanitarian fundraiser where they went out to Guatemala and they did something called micro-financing, where they give loans to underprivileged women to start up a small business," said WSU senior Jason Herman, head of the fundraiser. "The loans are small; they're $30 or $50, which is enough for them to buy, say, a tortilla press and some flour to start a business selling tortillas, or beads to make jewelry. So we're giving them a permanent source of income rather than giving them a handout." The students are continuing their efforts to aid women of Guatemala and hope to preserve the Mayan culture by raising enough funds to start a Mayan ecological museum. "What happens with the loans is as they pay those back," Herman said, "that money will go into a com munity fund that will help other women in the community by allowing them to have their own loans and start their own businesses." The students continued to raise money for Guatemala on Thursday, March 4. Five local restaurants on 25th St. in Ogden participated in the fundraiser through donating a percentage of their profits or through servers donating their tips and customers giving donations. Roosters Brewing Co. was one of the restaurants that participated in the fundraiser. "The owners, Kym and Pete Buttschardt, they have decided to donate 5 percent of the sales tonight to the fundraisers," said Roosters manager Malinda Kennington. "They gave the servers the option if they wanted to donate tips, and we have a bowl where customers could donate." The Union Grill, located at the Union Station, also donated 5 percent of their sales to the fundraiser, with the Artesian Grille, Bistro 258 and La Ferrovia participating as well. "It was one of those things," said See Guatemala page 6 J v I'liUIUiSl liKAN BUI ItKNLLL) IL i(..,'Ui WSU senior Jason Herman, helps serve some food to some customers of Bristo 258 at 25th St. on Thursday, March 4. Five local restaurants participated and donated a percentage of profits to the humanitarian fundraiser. WSU celebrates Women's History Month 30th anniversary of Women's Studies program coincides with history month in March By Candis Parkinson news reporter I Vie Signpost March marks the 30th anniversary ofWeber State University's Women's Studies program. March is also Women's History Month, the time to celebrate women who have made an impact on history around the world. "It's important that we don't forget that women have played an equal role in shaping our country and our world," said Michael Martinez, a WSU psychology senior. "Reminding ourselves of that is always a good thing." Women's History Month is intended to focus on not only prominent women, but also women less known or heard of. "Women's History Month is a time to remember women who are generally left out of our history books," said Maria D. Parilla de Kokal, Women's Studies program coordinator. ' For the past 30 years, WSU has annually taken the time to remember and recognize those women who have had an impact and changed societies for the better. Events are held every March to commemorate and cele brate the lives of these women and their positive impacts on the world. Events kicked off March 1. Women's Studies has coordinated events to span the month of March, including art galleries at the Davis campus, poetry readings, displays, book discussions and guest speakers. AJ1 events will focus on honoring women throughout history-Students on campus said it is important to recognize and remember those who have helped put U.S. society where it is todav. Many historical women are interest ing and prominent figures for both men and women. "Rosa Parks, Harriett Tubman and Queen Isabella I have all been important to me in our history," Martinez said. "Rosa and Harriett are people that started out with next to nothing but gave themselves selflessly to others, and that is commendable." "It's important that we don't forget that women have played an equal role in shaping our country and our world." Michael Martinez WSU psychology sc:or ' Although Martinez was initially unaware such a month existed, he said he was happy to hear about it and felt it is important to remember those individuals. "It's good to remember how oppressed women were in the past, where you have been, where you are now and where you want to be in the future," he said. Naomi Stewart, a WSU social work junior, also talked of Women's History Month's importance. "I think it's important for us to be aware of things that are still going," Stewart said. "It builds on our ability to create equality not just for all women, but for all people." Stewart said it is important to remember the wom en who led the women's suffrage. She said that without their actions, society would not be as productive as it is today. "The women's suffrage made people aware that women deserve all the same and equal rights as men," Stewart said. See Women page b BEIJING (AP) China's central bank governor acknowledged on Saturday diat Beijing is using its controversial exchange-rate controls to cope with die global economic crisis and said it will be cautious about retreating from the policy. Gov. Zhou Xiaochuan's comments come as Beijing faces rising pressure to ease controls that Washington and other trading partners say keep its yuan undervalued, swelling its trade surplus. President Barack Obama says he will press for an end to currency systems that he says depress export prices and hurt American companies. At a news conference during the annual meeting of China's ceremonial legislature, Zhou said a "special foreign exchange mechanism" is part of Beijing's crisis response. China has held the yuan steady against the dollar since late 2008 in an apparent effort to help China's exporters compete abroad, though authorities have never openly confirmed that. The yuan's value was tied to the dollar for decades, but Beijing broke that link in 2005 and allowed the currency to rise about 20 percent through late 2008. That rise was halted after the global crisis hit. "It could take two to three years to recover to the 2008 level," Chen said. "Proceeding from die high unemployment and low deposit rates in die epicenter of the financial tsunami, the world consumer market and real recovery of China's exports require time." Oddball news Utah man determined to get arrested gets his wish SALT LAKE CITY (AP) A man rebuffed in an attempt to get arrested finally got his wish when he went for an officer's handgun. Unified police documents said the 54-year-old transient tried to turn himself in at the jail last weekend but an officer told him he had no reason to arrest him. At that point, police said the man grabbed for the officer's gun saying, "Maybe I'll try suicide by cop." Police said he failed in getting the gun and he also changed his mind about wanting to go to jail because he began to resist. The man, who was described as belligerent and appeared to be intoxicated, was subdued and jailed. And he might have gotten more than he bargained for. Police said he was hit with several charges, including a serious felony of disarming a peace officer. No oath, no conviction, Mich, court says ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) A Michigan man sent to prison for 15 years is getting a new trial after the judge failed to do a routine procedure ask the jury to take an oath. Timothy Bccktel was sentenced in 2008 for assault with intent to murder. But his appellate lawyer successfully argued that the verdict should be thrown out because the jury didn't swear to return an honest decision based on law and evidence. The Michigan Court of Appeals said Friday it must erase the verdict to preserve the fairness and integrity of the judicial system. Assistant prosecutor David King says his office might appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court. He says Becktel's trial attorney never objected to the lack of a jury oath.

Public Domain. Courtesy of University Archives, Stewart Library, Weber State University.

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Where are WSU grads now? see page 4 AT A GLANCE EDITORIAL FEATURES CLASSIFIEDS.. 2 3 4 5 O TH E 1934 ci'Oy ?7i'e(7erJ 2009 10 n frn if MONDAY, MARCH 8, 2010 VOL 80 ISSUE 70 WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY WWW.WSUSI6NP0ST.COM mm mj dtj U ml International news in brief V Of g j uj Thompson becomes first female: Student Body Officer since 1993 By Spencer Garn assL news editor I The Signpost In one of the closest elections in WSU history, Victoria Thompson edged Lee Naylor by 19 votes Friday night to become the first female Weber State University Student Body President since 1993. "I think that means that anybody can do anything; it doesn't matter who you are," Thompson said. "This year we have a (president) that's in a wheelchair and I think that's awesome, and just as awesome is this year we have a female president." Thompson received 39.7 percent of 1,434 votes while Naylor received 38.3 percent. Thompson attributed her narrow win to her credentials and aggressive campaign, which won her the vote of at least one student. "She was handing out juice boxes at the shuttle stop and it was one of the days when it was a blizzard," said Rachel Park, a student who voted for Thompson. "That's dedication." Naylor also applauded Thompson's campaign, calling it one of the greatest ever seen at WSU. Naylor expressed appreciation for both of his opponents, saying that Cole Spicker, who finished last in the voting, showed a great deal of respect and integrity throughout his campaign. The programming vice president election was also closely contested, with Matthew Budge defeating Jennifer Peterson by only 35 votes. The other elected candidates include Tawny Choi as Diversity Vice President, Michelle Hall as Service Vice President, Shay Taylor as Clubs and Organizations Vice President, Kyle Braithwaite as See Winning page 6 ; V " . ' r . - r - ...... PHOIO BY BRYAN BUTTERFIELD THL MO,U Victoria Thompson hugs current Student Body President Tyler Lathem on Friday, March 5 after narrowly beating out Lee Naylor for the 2010-11 SBO position. Students hold fundraising humanitarian event for women t r By Frances Kelsey editor in chief l The Signpost Last May, Weber State University students traveled to Guatemala to help local women start their own businesses. "Last year in 2009, Weber State had ' a humanitarian fundraiser where they went out to Guatemala and they did something called micro-financing, where they give loans to underprivileged women to start up a small business," said WSU senior Jason Herman, head of the fundraiser. "The loans are small; they're $30 or $50, which is enough for them to buy, say, a tortilla press and some flour to start a business selling tortillas, or beads to make jewelry. So we're giving them a permanent source of income rather than giving them a handout." The students are continuing their efforts to aid women of Guatemala and hope to preserve the Mayan culture by raising enough funds to start a Mayan ecological museum. "What happens with the loans is as they pay those back," Herman said, "that money will go into a com munity fund that will help other women in the community by allowing them to have their own loans and start their own businesses." The students continued to raise money for Guatemala on Thursday, March 4. Five local restaurants on 25th St. in Ogden participated in the fundraiser through donating a percentage of their profits or through servers donating their tips and customers giving donations. Roosters Brewing Co. was one of the restaurants that participated in the fundraiser. "The owners, Kym and Pete Buttschardt, they have decided to donate 5 percent of the sales tonight to the fundraisers," said Roosters manager Malinda Kennington. "They gave the servers the option if they wanted to donate tips, and we have a bowl where customers could donate." The Union Grill, located at the Union Station, also donated 5 percent of their sales to the fundraiser, with the Artesian Grille, Bistro 258 and La Ferrovia participating as well. "It was one of those things," said See Guatemala page 6 J v I'liUIUiSl liKAN BUI ItKNLLL) IL i(..,'Ui WSU senior Jason Herman, helps serve some food to some customers of Bristo 258 at 25th St. on Thursday, March 4. Five local restaurants participated and donated a percentage of profits to the humanitarian fundraiser. WSU celebrates Women's History Month 30th anniversary of Women's Studies program coincides with history month in March By Candis Parkinson news reporter I Vie Signpost March marks the 30th anniversary ofWeber State University's Women's Studies program. March is also Women's History Month, the time to celebrate women who have made an impact on history around the world. "It's important that we don't forget that women have played an equal role in shaping our country and our world," said Michael Martinez, a WSU psychology senior. "Reminding ourselves of that is always a good thing." Women's History Month is intended to focus on not only prominent women, but also women less known or heard of. "Women's History Month is a time to remember women who are generally left out of our history books," said Maria D. Parilla de Kokal, Women's Studies program coordinator. ' For the past 30 years, WSU has annually taken the time to remember and recognize those women who have had an impact and changed societies for the better. Events are held every March to commemorate and cele brate the lives of these women and their positive impacts on the world. Events kicked off March 1. Women's Studies has coordinated events to span the month of March, including art galleries at the Davis campus, poetry readings, displays, book discussions and guest speakers. AJ1 events will focus on honoring women throughout history-Students on campus said it is important to recognize and remember those who have helped put U.S. society where it is todav. Many historical women are interest ing and prominent figures for both men and women. "Rosa Parks, Harriett Tubman and Queen Isabella I have all been important to me in our history," Martinez said. "Rosa and Harriett are people that started out with next to nothing but gave themselves selflessly to others, and that is commendable." "It's important that we don't forget that women have played an equal role in shaping our country and our world." Michael Martinez WSU psychology sc:or ' Although Martinez was initially unaware such a month existed, he said he was happy to hear about it and felt it is important to remember those individuals. "It's good to remember how oppressed women were in the past, where you have been, where you are now and where you want to be in the future," he said. Naomi Stewart, a WSU social work junior, also talked of Women's History Month's importance. "I think it's important for us to be aware of things that are still going," Stewart said. "It builds on our ability to create equality not just for all women, but for all people." Stewart said it is important to remember the wom en who led the women's suffrage. She said that without their actions, society would not be as productive as it is today. "The women's suffrage made people aware that women deserve all the same and equal rights as men," Stewart said. See Women page b BEIJING (AP) China's central bank governor acknowledged on Saturday diat Beijing is using its controversial exchange-rate controls to cope with die global economic crisis and said it will be cautious about retreating from the policy. Gov. Zhou Xiaochuan's comments come as Beijing faces rising pressure to ease controls that Washington and other trading partners say keep its yuan undervalued, swelling its trade surplus. President Barack Obama says he will press for an end to currency systems that he says depress export prices and hurt American companies. At a news conference during the annual meeting of China's ceremonial legislature, Zhou said a "special foreign exchange mechanism" is part of Beijing's crisis response. China has held the yuan steady against the dollar since late 2008 in an apparent effort to help China's exporters compete abroad, though authorities have never openly confirmed that. The yuan's value was tied to the dollar for decades, but Beijing broke that link in 2005 and allowed the currency to rise about 20 percent through late 2008. That rise was halted after the global crisis hit. "It could take two to three years to recover to the 2008 level," Chen said. "Proceeding from die high unemployment and low deposit rates in die epicenter of the financial tsunami, the world consumer market and real recovery of China's exports require time." Oddball news Utah man determined to get arrested gets his wish SALT LAKE CITY (AP) A man rebuffed in an attempt to get arrested finally got his wish when he went for an officer's handgun. Unified police documents said the 54-year-old transient tried to turn himself in at the jail last weekend but an officer told him he had no reason to arrest him. At that point, police said the man grabbed for the officer's gun saying, "Maybe I'll try suicide by cop." Police said he failed in getting the gun and he also changed his mind about wanting to go to jail because he began to resist. The man, who was described as belligerent and appeared to be intoxicated, was subdued and jailed. And he might have gotten more than he bargained for. Police said he was hit with several charges, including a serious felony of disarming a peace officer. No oath, no conviction, Mich, court says ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) A Michigan man sent to prison for 15 years is getting a new trial after the judge failed to do a routine procedure ask the jury to take an oath. Timothy Bccktel was sentenced in 2008 for assault with intent to murder. But his appellate lawyer successfully argued that the verdict should be thrown out because the jury didn't swear to return an honest decision based on law and evidence. The Michigan Court of Appeals said Friday it must erase the verdict to preserve the fairness and integrity of the judicial system. Assistant prosecutor David King says his office might appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court. He says Becktel's trial attorney never objected to the lack of a jury oath.